As a Scorpio, you guard your privacy intensely, and you also like to do things alone, on your own terms, so that you can be in full control. This month seems to show a different side to you, for with four sweet, heavenly bodies stacking up in your seventh house of partnership, you seem to be poised to make a commitment to someone dearly important to you, in love or business. I will discuss both possibilities - let's take love first. In either manifestation, the new moon will set everything in motion when it appears in Taurus 17 degrees on May 6.

The fifth house rules love, but when love grows deeper, the focus moves to the seventh house that rules promises and contracts. Marriage is, of course, a contract, although sometimes we get so focused on the beautiful, romantic elements of the relationship that we forget that marriage brings with it a legal document. That's the reason that in astrology, marriage is in the contracts sector - when two people unite and promise to stand by each other now and forever in the most serious sense, by contract.

May 3 and May 10 should be dazzling days for your relationship. Jupiter and the Sun will align on May 3, and Venus and Jupiter will align on May 10. In both cases, your relationship house will be lit in an enchanting way. The weekend of May 7-8 might be especially memorable, although May 14-15 has a great deal going for it too. If you are romantically attached, you will feel the aspects of this month more than single Scorpios.

If your birthday falls on November 10, you will especially feel the effects of this new moon. The same would be true if you know you have Scorpio rising 16 degrees, or have a natal planet in Scorpio, Pisces, Cancer, Taurus, Virgo, or Capricorn at 17 degrees, plus or minus five degrees.

This is a good time to be thinking about getting engaged or married, but not quite the time to act on those plans because Mercury and Mars, along with Jupiter, Saturn, and Pluto, will all be retrograde. (More about that in a minute). Venus will be among the small crowd of heavenly bodies that are sparkling in your marriage house. With Venus will be Mercury, the Sun, and new moon. If you feel you are not at all ready to think about an engagement or marriage, you can use this exceptional new moon of May 6 (plus ten days) toward building a happy business relationship. For example, you can find a new agent, business partner, manager, lawyer, writing partner, or other person you would hire to collaborate with you in a very direct, one-on-one way to help you get ahead.

This new moon is sensationally aspected to other planets - it is one of the best new moons of the year. This month, Jupiter, giver of gifts and luck, will send a beautiful vibration to your house of partnerships. That's rare and special help! Neptune, in your love sector, will also send silvery beams to the new moon, May 6, so that will help you in two ways, for love OR for boosting your creativity. Also, remarkably, your ruler Pluto will also be part of the team welcoming the majestic new moon, and that says to me that you might be getting ready to make a promise that is powerfully important to you. It also suggests you may travel together soon this month.

Now I will get into detail about why you should not rush into any contractual arrangement this month. Mercury has been retrograde since April 28, and Mercury is the planet of communication, contracts, and agreements. Although you have so much going for you, you need to wait until Mercury regulates its orbit on May 22.

There is more to think about, for Mercury's brother, Mars, your secondary planetary ruler, AND Pluto (your other ruler) are both retrograde, along with Saturn and Jupiter, making five planets retrograde as we begin May. Gosh, I've not seen anything this extreme in a long time. (Fortunately, Jupiter will go direct May 9.)

When you look at a group of planets retrograde, realize that we feel the effects of a retrograde planet if it is spinning closest to earth, so that would be Mars, Mercury, and Venus. Venus is fine - Venus is not due to go retrograde anytime soon, but Mars and his brother Mercury are both sliding backward now. Mercury will stop retrograding on May 22, and Mars will stop retrograding June 29.

You may already be familiar with Mercury retrograde. Communication goes haywire; misunderstandings proliferate; we become forgetful, indecisive, and confused; and our judgment is almost always off, mainly because certain information is almost always missing. When Mercury retrogrades, it is an immediate signal that the wind is changing direction - but it is still too early to see exactly how it is changing and how it will affect you. That's why it is so risky to sign papers and make commitments while Mercury is out of phase. If you sign now, later all the points that you negotiate will have to be changed and renegotiated. It is, by the way, an awful time to buy electronics or appliances.

Mars has a different effect when retrograde. Mars is the planet that helps you compete well. However, when he is asleep at the wheel, as he is now, Mars does nothing to put you out in front - you have to make up for all the energy that is not being forthcoming from Mars. As you can imagine, dear Scorpio, Mars is bigger than both of us, to say the least. Because Mars retrogrades every two years, you don't have a lot of experience with these periods. If you launch now, you will have to work very hard to lift off your venture properly, and it will be a strenuous proposition with many obstacles.

In my own life, I have had 18 people working on the redesign of Astrology Zone, and I signed the work order last September in Austin with Phunware. The job required all new code to be written and that all graphics and navigation would change, so it is a huge undertaking. I am, of course, anxious to post the beautiful new design that I sketched out and showed the designers. The team loved my ideas, and the designers have been busy showering the layout with their own pixie dust, making the design and navigation of my site even better. Still, I am never going to debut a website while Mercury and Mars are retrograde. Mercury rules communication and the digital world, and Mars rules one's will and determination to achieve excellence. I will wait until July or August to debut it. If you can wait to debut your venture, do.

As an aside, I was lucky with the timing of the additional redesign of my existing app (only 18 months old). Last September, I also signed a different work order with Phunware in Austin to add new features and improved navigation, including video, on my existing app, called Susan Miller's AstrologyZone Daily Horoscopes. The (different) team was able to finish work on my app by March because there was less code to write than on the website. By mid-March, Apple and Google approved our design, so we were able to go to market well in advance of these retrogrades. So far, the readers have loved it. (Thank you! That's my aim!) I have my heart and soul in these projects, so of course, I am going to follow my own advice - act when Mercury and Mars are not retrograde if you can.

One good part of Mars retrograde for you, dear Scorpio, is that this, your secondary ruler, will retrograde back into Scorpio from where it is now, Sagittarius, on May 27, and put you back in control from May 27 to August 2. Within this period, the weeks from June 29 (the date Mars goes direct) to August 2, comprising all of July, will be a very good time for you to put your enterprises and relationships into action. If you recall, Mercury will regulate this orbit this month, so by July, you will have all systems go, with Mercury AND Mars strong.

Also, financially, ever since Mars entered Sagittarius, where it is now, last March 5, your expenses have risen. You seem to have been writing checks lately, but after April 27, the check writing will calm down, at least until August 2. You will have more expenses in August and September, but then you will be done.

Here is some good news about money. Your chart is complex, for Jupiter, the giver of gifts and luck, which holds sway over your solar second house of income, will go direct on May 9, the first in the gang of five retrograde planets to go direct. This will help you - Jupiter is apparently getting stronger. Right now, Jupiter is traveling in your friendship / events / new people sector (eleventh house), so a friend or a professional group you belong to may have some bearing on the rise or stabilization of your income. Watch the days that circle May 9, for when any big planet goes direct, the universe gives you a subtle clue of which direction things are heading - keep an ear to the ground.

In the meantime, speaking of finances, you have a full moon in your second house of income on May 21, and it is conjunct Mars. You will be eager to both pay bills and to get the money owed to you from others. The position of Mars might cause strife, but I doubt it - I think it simply shows you'll be energetic. Next month you will have a second full moon in the same part of your chart; both full moons will be in Sagittarius, and this is unusual. Your mind certainly will be on money. You may think about how to invest, or you may be working on how to join forces with another person and share expenses, such as in a marriage or business. Or you may be in the process of a lifestyle change - buying a house, having a baby, going back to college, or starting a new business - these types of goals usually coincide with high spending periods.

No matter what you do for a living, it appears you will have a victory on May 3, when Jupiter will signal the Sun. The Sun rules your solar tenth house of prestigious career gains, so this should be a red letter day. Have an interview or meeting, give a presentation - do something difficult to achieve, for you will likely win. Pluto will also be in good angle to the Sun by week's end, but you will feel this aspect on May 3-6, and because Pluto is in your contracts and communication sector (solar third house), you will find accord fairly easily. Bravo!

Good news! Mars, your ruler has been moving through Sagittarius since March 5, but on May 27 will move backward into Scorpio as Mars retrogrades, and will remain in Scorpio until August 2. This means you will have far more control over events that you have had over the past months, and that June and July will truly belong to you.

You will be in the center of all things that matter, able to voice your decisions, and may even be bemused about how smoothly things start to go your way. Mars is still retrograde, which means the red planet will be moving at lower power, so May and June won't be ideal months to launch new ventures and relationships. It WILL be an ideal time to look back at former decisions and to decide what is doing well and what needs to be fixed. You may not be able to implement those decisions until October, but what matters is that you do the necessary examination of past events and projects that Mars appears to be coaxing you to do.

When your ruler (Mars) moves backward through your own sign, it suggests you are entering a time when you will be reviewing many elements of your life - how you look, how you view your identity, your social life, vocation, finances, and most importantly your satisfaction in your everyday life - the works. If you change your appearance, it will be a signal that your intense meditation about how your life is proceeding is going quite deep. As you go through this process, people around you will be impressed with your courage and drive, and this energetic attitude will cause others to support you.

A current, ongoing committed relationship will be your focus after the new moon arrives May 6. This will be a very positive new moon, for Jupiter, the giver of gifts and luck, and Pluto, your secondary ruler, will both send golden beams to that new moon. Neptune, now in your house of true love, will also beam silvery dust all over you. This lovely planetary activity is significant, for it suggests that the time may be right to make a promise soon to your significant other. Venus is moving through your relationship sector too and is strong and not retrograde, so warm feelings are likely to proliferate with the one you are attached to in a romantic sense.

If you represent talent or are represented by a lawyer, agent, or publicist (as a few examples), that relationship is also likely to go exceptionally well now. You may be getting ready to sign papers together, but wait - Mercury is retrograde, so put things off as long as possible.

You may feel ready to get engaged or married by year's end, or you may decide you need to take on a collaborator in business. As said, take your time, as Mars retrograde is not the ideal time to etch commitments in stone if you can help it. Do your best to get beyond June 29.